Gauteng health to upgrade IT systems in hospitals

The Gauteng department of health has plans to upgrade its information technology system to improve service delivery at clinics, hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

A spokesperson for the health MEC, Kwara Kekana, said this was part of the department’s efforts to improve service delivery and the quality of healthcare with a new programme dubbed the health information system.

“The system is designed to create an effective and efficient work environment and reduce long waiting times in hospitals and community healthcare centres,” said Kekana.

Kekana said the system would further improve patient experience of care in facilities “which is one of [our] key strategic objectives”.

“The new system replaces the outdated legacy systems as well as manual processes of patient management and clinical documentation.

“This system will be implemented in over 30 hospitals and 33 community health centres and primary healthcare facilities in the province. It will simplify the registration process for patients when they visit a facility by generating a unique patient identification number. The system will also lead to creation of single file for a single patient across Gauteng health facilities, and end the duplication and loss of patient files.”

With this digitisation process it was envisaged that paper usage would be reduced drastically.

Kekana said the technology would be rolled out in phases starting with the Johannesburg district with the Tshwane phase projected for August 2021.

Gauteng acting health MEC Jacob Mamabolo commended the department for introducing this system.

“I welcome the implementation of this system within our healthcare infrastructure. We have to implement smart technologies that will improve service delivery. Efficient systems will ensure that the province is better positioned for the roll out of the national health insurance,” said Mamabolo.